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Question 75 of 94 · Early Medieval India & South Indian Kingdoms
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In early medieval Indian inscriptions, the term 'bhoga' referred to:

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Answer: Option C — A revenue assignment or the right to enjoy revenue from land

Detailed Solution

In early medieval Indian inscriptions and texts, the term "bhoga" referred to the right to enjoy the revenue or produce of a piece of land or a village, granted by the king, and also to a territorial or revenue unit.

Meaning of the term:

  • "Bhoga" comes from the Sanskrit root "bhuj", meaning "to enjoy" or "to use".
  • In land grants, it meant the enjoyment of the revenue and produce of the land by the grantee.
  • The holder of such rights was sometimes called a "bhogika" or "bhogapati".
  • In some regions, "bhoga" also referred to an administrative or revenue division, similar to a district.
  • In some texts, "bhoga" also meant the king's share of the produce.

Land grants in early medieval India:

  • From the Gupta period onwards, kings granted land to Brahmanas, temples (devadana) and officials.
  • The grantees were often given the right to collect taxes from the villages, and sometimes administrative and judicial rights.
  • Historians have debated whether these grants led to a kind of "Indian feudalism", with power passing from the king to local landholders.

Related terms:

  • "Agrahara": a village granted to Brahmanas.
  • "Devadana": land granted to temples.
  • "Bhukti": a provincial unit in the Gupta administration.
  • "Vishaya": a district.
  • "Samanta": a subordinate chief or feudatory.

NCERT on land grants:

  • NCERT notes that land grants provide insights into the relationship between cultivators and the state, and that they were made by kings to religious institutions or to Brahmanas.
  • It explains that such grants were carefully recorded and handed over to the people who received the land.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗A royal palace, a dance and a temple festival are not the meaning of "bhoga" in this context.

Quick tip

Remember: bhoga = right to enjoy the revenue of land (also a revenue unit); devadana = land to temples; samanta = feudatory.

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Early Medieval India & South Indian Kingdoms — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Early Medieval India & South Indian Kingdoms, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers India from about the 7th to the 12th century: the Rajput dynasties, the tripartite struggle between the Palas, Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas, and the South Indian kingdoms of the Chalukyas, Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas, along with the Sangam age and the temple architecture of the period. Questions often ask which dynasty built a temple (the Pallavas built the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram, and Rajaraja Chola I built the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur), the capitals of dynasties, and the local self-government of the Cholas. Learning each dynasty with its capital, greatest ruler and one monument is the quickest way to answer these questions. Practise the early medieval India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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